25 Times Emma Watson Was Our Girl Crush

To celebrate the the actress-activist's 25th birthday on April 15, we've rounded up her most inspiring quotes worthy of a #WomanCrushWednesday shout-out.

Emma Watson doesn't just play intelligent, opinionated and free-spirited women onscreen (think Hermione Granger and soon, Beauty and the Beast's Belle) — she is one. The Brown University alumna's inspiring work for the UN, her #HeForShe campaign and her consistently positive rhetoric with regards to body image have inspired our major girl crush on the actress. (And if that wasn't enough, she's got impeccable style too.)

To celebrate her birthday on April 15, we've assembled her 25 most empowering (and sometimes hilarious) words of wisdom. Because yes, at 25 she is already quite wise.

3. "When at 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of their beloved sports teams, because they didn't want to appear muscle-y, when at 18, my male friends were unable to express their feelings, I decided that I was a feminist." — UN Gender Equality Speech, 2014

4. "You can't go to the pharmacy without someone saying, 'Hey, you're the girl from Harry Potter!' and I'm like 'Yeah! Just buying tampons, see you in a bit!' " — ABC News, 2010

5. "Really I was open-minded about doing anything, but the one thing I didn't want to do was get myself into a corset, because I was worried I'd never get out again." — GQ interview, 2013

6. "If I had it my way, I would have just kept [my hair] short forever. Of course, men like long hair. There's no two ways about it. The majority of the boys around me were like, 'Why did you do that? That's such an error.' And I was like, 'Well, honestly, I don't really care what you think!'" — Glamour interview, 2012

7. "How can we effect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?" — UN Gender Equality Speech, 2014

8. "There's nothing interesting about looking perfect — you lose the point. You want what you're wearing to say something about you, about who you are." —Teen Vogue interview, 2009

9. "I've probably earned the right to screw up a few times. I don't want fear of failure to stop me doing what I really care about." — Vogue interview, 2011

16. "I want to be the person who feels great in her body and can say that she loves it and doesn't want to change anything." — Elle interview, 2011

17. "I have realized that fighting for women's rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop." — UN Gender Equality Speech, 2014

18. "Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue, too." — UN Gender Equality Speech, 2014

19. "It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals." — UN Gender Equality Speech, 2014

20. "I feel like young girls are told this whole idea that they have to be this kind of princess and be all delicate and fragile and that's bullshit." — GlobalGrind interview, 2011